New York Times Privileges GOP Argument On Minimum Wage Increase

A New York Times article presented a completely one-sided discussion of President Obama's proposal to raise the minimum wage, citing a single conservative source who claimed an increase would exacerbate joblessness while ignoring economists who have said increasing the minimum wage would have little or no impact on unemployment.

The Times reported that President Obama spoke about his proposed increase in the minimum wage to $9 an hour at the first stop of his tour promoting U.S. manufacturing jobs. After stating that minimum wage increases even in good economic times "have been heavy political lifts," the Timescited a Republican argument against increasing the minimum wage:

''I've been dealing with the minimum wage issue for the last 28 years that I've been in elected office,'' House Speaker John A. Boehner said to reporters on Wednesday. ''And when you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it.''

But the Times article doesn't note the evidence that minimum wage increases don't lead to increased joblessness.

A 2011 report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that increasing the minimum wage has no "discernible impact" on the employment of low-wage workers. And according to economist Heidi Shierholz at the Economic Policy Institute, claims of job losses for teenagers from a minimum wage increase "simply do not comport with the evidence."